Portable tablet computers that allow users to connect to the Internet and to access e-mail and to view the screen in both a landscape (horizontal) and portrait (vertical) orientation are a recent development. Software developed for these tablet computers often function by having the user actively tilt or rotate the screen at varying degrees and speeds which interact with a built in accelerometer. Although these computers are designed to be hand held, there are times when it is desirable to be able to view and rotate or tilt the tablet computer without the user having to holding it up with his or her arms. There are several new stands that have been designed to hold these new tablet computers. Some of them sit on a horizontal surface and are designed to be portable and collapsible, but don't allow for screen rotation by touch. Some of these new stands allow the tablet computer to tilt and allow the screen to rotate but do not allow for the stand to be mounted to the bottom of a shelf or cabinet. Some of these new stands are designed to mount the tablet computer to a fixed vertical surface, such as a wall, or under a horizontal surface, such as a cabinet or shelf, but are not portable. Some of these new stands can be incrementally tilted backwards or fixed in a specified number of reclined positions, but don't allow the recline angle to be locked in all possible angular positions between fully vertical and fully horizontal.
There is a need for one design that is both a multi-positional, portable desktop stand with screen rotation, and, a multi-positional under cabinet or under shelf mount for a tablet computer.
Furthermore, many existing stands and mounts attach to the edges or corners of the tablet computers where there are often buttons and jacks. There is a need for a stand and mount that attaches to the center of the back surface of a tablet computer so that the mount or stand does not interfere with the placement of the buttons and jacks on the edges of the tablet computer. Also, there is a need for a stand and mount that attaches to the center of the back surface of a tablet computer so that it can be used with tablet computers of differing dimensions and proportions without the need for an adapter surface designed specifically for a particular tablet computer.